2015 OC Throwdown Recap
Last weekend, San Diego Athletics sent seven athletes to The OC Throwdown in Costa Mesa, CA. Jenn Ryan, Paula Santos, Ryan Fischer, Tyler Kopacz, and Aaron Gardner competed as individuals and Lindsay Renteria and Anders Varner partnered with Bryan Wadkins and Christine Williams of CrossFit RXD.
On February 27th the athletes committed to San Diego Athletics’ CrossFit program will begin their five week journey in the CrossFit Open. For some this is a fun time to play fitness. For some it is a bit more serious and are looking to see how they have improved from last year. For a few of the very dedicated athletes, this time of the year is what they have been training for all year. As a sport, fitness has grown tremendously. The CrossFit Games is a real sporting event that has gained the attention of massive companies including Reebok and most recently Nike. This growth has also created an outlet for athletes to compete at very high levels throughout the year. Over the past couple years, a few competitions throughout the country, The OC Throwdown, Wodapalooza, and the East Coast Championships, have created a tour of events that allow top athletes to compete, earn prize money, and most importantly gain the attention of sponsors that allow these athletes to maintain a lifestyle that allows them to train and focus on their sport.
Last weekend, San Diego Athletics sent seven athletes to The OC Throwdown in Costa Mesa, CA. Jenn Ryan, Paula Santos, Ryan Fischer, Tyler Kopacz, and Aaron Gardner competed as individuals and Lindsay Renteria and Anders Varner partnered with Bryan Wadkins and Christine Williams of CrossFit RXD. Both Bryan and Christine are phenominal athletes and could not have been better teammates. Justin Fields also competed on a team with athletes from the Socal region. The workload and competition for the individual athletes is incredible. Each athlete battles through eight workouts over three days against the toughest competition in the country. The ladies of SDA held their own with Jenn Ryan finishing 17th and Paula finishing 29th. Team Virus, comprised of Christine, Lindsay, Bryan, and Anders finished in 6th place. The 6th place showing is impressive considering the athletes train at different gyms, were only able to put together two formal practices, and were unaware they were competing until three weeks before the event.
This past weekend was the kick off to the fitness season. SDA is very excited to see how our individuals, as well as our team, do in the CrossFit Open and California regional. These larger local events give us a way to judge progress before we dive into the CrossFit season. With us being six weeks out, these events provide experience and the confidence needed to compete on the big stage after the open concludes. The next stop for most of us is The CrossFit Open where our team finished 13th in the world in 2014. These are exciting times as we put the final touches on a long year of training and this past weekend was a big step in the right direction.
